Thales Alenia Space Belgium—Ship-Sets To Be Built For Ariane 5 (Equipment)

[SatNews] Thales Alenia Space Belgium has been selected by Astrium to supply electronic equipment for a new batch of 18 Ariane 5 launchers.

A major supplier of electronics on this heavy launcher, Thales Alenia Space Belgium will deliver 23 equipment ship-sets for each Ariane 5. These assemblies handle onboard electrical distribution, control of steerable nozzles for flight control, calculation of the launcher's position in space, stage separation, opening of the fairing that protects satellites during their flight through the atmosphere, and the range safety system, activated if there is a flightpath deviation.

The equipment covered by this latest contract will be used on the recently ordered batch of 18 Ariane 5s, to be launched between 2017 and 2019. Thales Alenia Space Belgium has produced nearly 4,000 components and subassemblies for the 215 Ariane launchers produced to date. Furthermore, since the 1970s, Thales Alenia Space Belgium has also supplied all test benches for the Ariane 1 to 5 launchers, including the vital test rigs used for final checks and preparation for liftoff. This latest contract clearly confirms Astrium's confidence in Thales Alenia Space Belgium, a partner for more than 40 years.